As Niclas revealed already a month ago, us graduates were then at the moment on our way out on a new epic journey through Europe. For all readers, who have ever since then been longingly awaiting with great excitement and eagerness, arrives now at last one of the long-awaited stories from one of our legendary days in Germany.

It was a bright shiny morning when we woke up in our small guesthouse in Wolfsburg in central northern Germany, a charming city with 120,000 inhabitants. After stretching out our legs by means of a short walk to the nearest grocery store and drinking our morning coffee, we slowly began to awaken. We put our most professional business suits on and loaded us into our black minibus. In good time (of course), we started the journey towards today’s first goal.

It did not take long until we approached the city’s great pride, Volkswagenwerk, founded in 1938 by none other than Adolf Hitler (a shameful detail which the world’s largest car manufacturer strategically not told us about during the tour which we were then invited to). In this the world’s largest car factory, whose first buildings were already raised long before the city itself was founded, more than 75,000 people work each day. The surface occupied by the factory complex is huge (try entering Wolfsburg in Googlemaps and you will soon see an industrial unit that is equally big as the remaining parts of the city in whole). In fact, if you expect 60% of the inhabitants of the city to be fit for work, the available labor will still not suffice even if every single one were to work for the car giant. With such a huge staffing force, the Volkswagen factory becomes its own small society, and the need for employees in widely different areas far from the core business car manufacturing follows. For example, there is an own hospital in the area, an orangery that provides the offices and factories with uplifting plant life and a slaughterhouse that manufactures the local delicacy Volkswagenwurst.

The factory tour was made up of a seven-kilometer long ride in a tourist train, which rushed on with dizzying speeds along the factory floor, while a highly excited guide (and driver{/car thief?}) hollered more or less relevant information about the production. With our hands stretched in the air, it felt like we were in an amusement park as the g-forces struck us when flying over the ridges between the various workshops. During this experience, we were surrounded by around 2,700 robots that, together with all workers, spit out nearly 2 million cars a year, or one car every 18 seconds, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. A very much surreal experience!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSaaJYYLETA

After the ride at Volkswagen, it was time for a new speedy experience, this time northwards on another of Germany’s famous attractions – the Autobahn! With only a short food stop to enjoy the mythical VW-wurst, we quickly traveled north to Hamburg and our next stopping point in the adventure. It was time to see the final context of the products we manufacture and deliver.

On the Airbus site in Hamburg the A320, which we in Trollhättan manufacture TEC:s (Turbine Exhaust Cases) and the IMC:s (Intermediate Compressor Cases) for, is assembled. Airbus A320 is one of the world’s most successful aircraft programs and so far more than 7,500 planes have been manufactured. For us who work with the sole engine components every day, it was great fun to see them in their surrounding context. Even more exciting, however, was to closely observe the assembly of the airframe for the Airbus A380, the world’s largest passenger aircraft with capacity for up to 960 passengers and with a wing area of ​​845m2 (or equal to five normal sized villas!).

Not until nightfall our group of tired, but very happy trainees left today’s second visit full of new inspiration and knowledge. A day well worth remembering had sadly come to an end!

Airbus A380, the worlds largest passenger aircraft!